Venus' loved ones keep looking for body
Despite guilty verdict, hunt is not over yet
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/sw_mich/Venus-loved-ones-keep-looking-for-body
Updated: Sunday, 27 Mar 2011, 11:33 PM EDT
Published : Sunday, 27 Mar 2011, 6:14 PM EDT
By Dani Carlson
CENTREVILLE, Mich. (WOOD) - After months of looking for Venus Stewart's body, her family and friends have narrowed down their search area.
"It's hard to wrap your mind around the situation and to think like a killer," said Sue Billings, who lives out of state and spoke to 24 Hour News 8 over the phone Sunday night.
Billings is just one person who has searched for Venus' remains every week since the Colon Township woman's husband, Doug Stewart, was convicted of her murder March 11.
"It is a power issue," said Billings, when asked what she thought about Doug not revealing where Venus' body is. "It is an ego issue, and I don't think that he'll ever tell. I don't think that he'll ever admit his guilt."
But now, Billings said, Venus' friends and family have a better idea of where to search, because of cell phone calls Doug made around the time his estranged wife vanished April 26, 2010.
Searchers are focusing their efforts on a five-mile radius around the Kalamazoo County intersection of W Avenue and 36th Street, Billings said.
Even with the more focused search area, there's still a lot of land to cover, so Venus' loved ones have been posting flyers in the area, looking for help.
But Billings, and other searchers, told 24 Hour News 8 someone has been those signs down.
"Somebody has been taking them down a few hours after we put them up -- that's why we've been up there three weekends in a row," Billings said. "Why would somebody now take the posters down? We don't understand. We're very confused."
Still, Billings said Venus' family and friends are willing to continue the search, until they find what they're looking for.
"It will never be over," Billings said. "People talk about closure -- people say 'that should give you a bit of closure,' and I think in these situations, in humanity, that there's never closure."
Doug is scheduled to be sentenced for Venus' murder April 18. Her family is planning to hold a funeral for her April 26, the one-year anniversary of her disappearance.